Fearful (The Powerless Trilogy #3.5)

by Lauren Roberts

She was quiet, Adena, in a way that suggested she often wasn’t when alive. But most memorable of all, she was not afraid. Peace itself was relieved to find her.

A feeling begins to fester in her chest—something even more dangerous than she. Hope. Mara has experienced this horror firsthand. Like something pleasant that’s a breath away from becoming painful. Water too cold, it burns. Fire too large, it consumes. Love too grand, it kills. That is what Kitt Azer feels like. An enticing devastation.

Death knows this man. She walks a slow circle around his powerful body. Yes, he has delivered many souls to Mara. She has seen his stern face above the bodies he has drained of life. In fact, even she has heard whispers of this Elite. Here stands the Enforcer of Ilya. The brother to a dying king. The Deliverer of Death, they say. Mara would be the judge of that. She halts before him, studying his soul. A flicker of surprise touches her features, witnessed by no one. A shimmering darkness swirls within him, sheer and threaded with strands of pure white. Death blinks at such an odd sight. This is certainly not what she had expected.

THATS MY HUSBAND

Kitt looks startlingly hopeful at her words. “You don’t think I’m a monster?” “I don’t think you know what a monster is yet.” “Maybe not.” He then inches closer to Death (in more ways than one), his eyes flicking over her. “Because you certainly don’t look like one.” “What is it I look like?” “A trap.” Kitt smiles—genuine and boyish. The way only an Azer knows how. “But I don’t think that is what you are. Not really.” Death’s voice is steady despite her anticipation. “Go on.” “I think you are a beautiful being forced to do ugly things.” The king looks suddenly serious. “You’re not malicious—no. You’re obedient.” Mara, if she had any blood pumping through her veins, might have blushed. But her voice, predictably, remains dull. “So, what do you think? Am I a monster?” “I’m not afraid of you.” “That is not what I asked.” Green eyes behold Death, more gently than she deserves. “You don’t look like him. So no, I do not think you are a monster.” But Kitt does not stop there. If he had, perhaps things would have been different. But if you give Death hope, she will surely kill you with it. “In fact,” he says slowly, “I would have believed you were a deity, if only you said so. I wouldn’t have questioned worshiping something so divine.”

If gou give a mouse a cookie.....

But Kitt was wrong to be fearless in the face of Death the first time, for it is fear that would have kept him alive.